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The Association of Physical Activity and Work Engagement Among Participants in an Employee Wellness Program

Received: 1 June 2023    Accepted: 16 June 2023    Published: 27 June 2023
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Abstract

Work engagement has been linked with employee health and work performance outcomes making it an area of attention within the field of human resources management. However, work engagement among the US workforce has declined in recent years. Literature suggests physical activity may play a role in improving work engagement, which has raised interest among human resources and workplace health professionals. Employee wellness programs are uniquely situated to promote a physically active workforce. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity and work engagement among employee wellness program participants at a public university. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between strength training exercise and work engagement. We analyzed data on work engagement, and physical activity from a survey completed by 6,923 employee wellness program participants at public university. We defined respondents as physically active (PA) if their combined moderate to vigorous exercise met or exceeded 30 minutes on at least three days per week. All others were defined as inactive (IA). Respondents were defined as strength trained (ST) if they reported muscle strengthening exercise on two or more days per week, while all others were defined as untrained (UT). Work engagement score was based on responses to the three-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-3). We performed two-tailed t-tests to determine differences in mean work engagement scores between the physically active (PA) and inactive (IA) groups and between the strength trained (ST) and untrained (UT) groups. Differences in work engagement scores were statistically significant (p < 0.0001), with higher scores observed in the PA group (11.987) compared to the IA group (11.025). Differences in scores between the ST group and UT group were also statistically significant (p < 0.0001), with higher scores observed in the ST group (12.132) compared to the UT group (11.446). The findings from this study support earlier research and suggest promotion of physical activity and strength training may be a potential strategy to improve work engagement. Workplace health promotion and human resources professionals should consider the information gleaned from this evaluation to help them optimize human capital and business outcomes.

Published in Journal of Human Resource Management (Volume 11, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17
Page(s) 85-90
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Work Engagement, Physical Activity, Strength Training, Employee Wellness

References
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[9] Gallup 2023. US Employee Engagement Needs a Rebound in 2023.
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[15] Pronk, N. P. (2021). Implementing movement at the workplace: Approaches to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior in the context of work. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 64, 17-21.
[16] Tringali, V. M., 2020. Perceived Benefits and Barriers of Participation in Workplace Physical Activity Programs and Work Ability of Older Employees (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh).
[17] van Berkel, J., et al., 2013. An exploratory study of associations of physical activity with mental health and work engagement. BMC public health, 13 (1), p. 1-7.
[18] Nishi, D., Suzuki, Y., Nishida, J., Mishima, K. and Yamanouchi, Y., 2017. Personal lifestyle as a resource for work engagement. Journal of Occupational Health, 59 (1), pp. 17-23.
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[20] Schaufeli, W. B., and Bakker, A. B., 2003. UWES - Utrecht work engagement scale: Test manual. Department of Psychology, Utrecht University.
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[23] Augusto, V. G., Sampaio, R. F., Ferreira, F. R., Kirkwood, R. N. and César, C. C., 2015. Factors associated with inadequate work ability among women in the clothing industry. Work, 50 (2), pp. 275-283.
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  • APA Style

    Victor Tringali, Charles Andrew King, Robert Siebers, Megan Hall. (2023). The Association of Physical Activity and Work Engagement Among Participants in an Employee Wellness Program. Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(2), 85-90. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17

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    ACS Style

    Victor Tringali; Charles Andrew King; Robert Siebers; Megan Hall. The Association of Physical Activity and Work Engagement Among Participants in an Employee Wellness Program. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 2023, 11(2), 85-90. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17

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    AMA Style

    Victor Tringali, Charles Andrew King, Robert Siebers, Megan Hall. The Association of Physical Activity and Work Engagement Among Participants in an Employee Wellness Program. J Hum Resour Manag. 2023;11(2):85-90. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17,
      author = {Victor Tringali and Charles Andrew King and Robert Siebers and Megan Hall},
      title = {The Association of Physical Activity and Work Engagement Among Participants in an Employee Wellness Program},
      journal = {Journal of Human Resource Management},
      volume = {11},
      number = {2},
      pages = {85-90},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.20231102.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jhrm.20231102.17},
      abstract = {Work engagement has been linked with employee health and work performance outcomes making it an area of attention within the field of human resources management. However, work engagement among the US workforce has declined in recent years. Literature suggests physical activity may play a role in improving work engagement, which has raised interest among human resources and workplace health professionals. Employee wellness programs are uniquely situated to promote a physically active workforce. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity and work engagement among employee wellness program participants at a public university. A secondary aim was to examine the relationship between strength training exercise and work engagement. We analyzed data on work engagement, and physical activity from a survey completed by 6,923 employee wellness program participants at public university. We defined respondents as physically active (PA) if their combined moderate to vigorous exercise met or exceeded 30 minutes on at least three days per week. All others were defined as inactive (IA). Respondents were defined as strength trained (ST) if they reported muscle strengthening exercise on two or more days per week, while all others were defined as untrained (UT). Work engagement score was based on responses to the three-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-3). We performed two-tailed t-tests to determine differences in mean work engagement scores between the physically active (PA) and inactive (IA) groups and between the strength trained (ST) and untrained (UT) groups. Differences in work engagement scores were statistically significant (p < 0.0001), with higher scores observed in the PA group (11.987) compared to the IA group (11.025). Differences in scores between the ST group and UT group were also statistically significant (p < 0.0001), with higher scores observed in the ST group (12.132) compared to the UT group (11.446). The findings from this study support earlier research and suggest promotion of physical activity and strength training may be a potential strategy to improve work engagement. Workplace health promotion and human resources professionals should consider the information gleaned from this evaluation to help them optimize human capital and business outcomes.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Human Resources, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA

  • Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, USA

  • Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, USA

  • Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, USA

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